I spent a wonderful week in London visiting Lauren, the boys, and Gabriel, where my time was filled with…

• Walking around Barnes, a cute walkable cozy village
• Walking along The River Thames to Hammersmith
• Eating delicious dinners at home and enjoying a night at the pub
• Meeting up with Mila (first time I have seen her since 2018 I think) and Karolin (who happened to be visiting London), drinking some brewskis
• Visiting Kew Gardens, playing on the Kew Gardens playground, Noah’s attempt at taking our picture
• Reading books, the same ones repeatedly
• Cuddling on the couch
• Having bath time at home
• Exploring Knotting Hill area
• Visiting Mila’s apartment and enjoying a pub lunch
• Walking through Holland Park
• Eating and buying our way through Borough Market
• Getting close-ups with Big Ben
• And some not so close ups with The London Eye
• Making Peanut Butter Pie with Noah…he wanted to eat it warm!
• Watching Noah get a haircut
• Taking the ferry around the river on a rainy day
• Exploring The Tate Modern with Lauren and the boys

Similar to when I visited in 2019, the weather was cold…though this time I had a proper jacket (actually more than one). The weather was rainy too, though mostly at night. Each night, I would hear the splatter of rain as it hit the skylight in my bedroom and think the next day would be a rainout, only to find that the rain would clear up by morning. I had no obligations…no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry….just enjoyed the moment.  Noah couldn’t wait for my arrival and Elias warmed up to me within minutes, not wanting to miss out.  Noah and I read a lot of books, played some made-up games including Live Rubbish, and while he had a great time, by day six he began making his endless love of his Mommy and Daddy clear.  Noah proudly shared with me that he loved me only a very small percentage of the amount he loved his Mommy in Daddy.  In fact, I received a mere 2.5 compared to Gabriel’s 450 million and Lauren’s 21 million.  Now that is some rubbish!

As with most vacations, after a week, it was time to come home and get back to reality.  I had a wonderful week made even better when I got home to witness that Avery, Emerson, and Harper were truly getting along and showing mutual respect for one another, which continued throughout the entire weekend.  I guess I should go away more often on my own!’ (admin edit: no, you shouldn’t we or me Justin missed you so much!!!)

December 4^th was the anticipated arrival of my sister and the boys.  She had a work conference in Texas and decided to bring both boys, which meant for five days, the boys shuffled between my parents’ house and our house. 

• We played….
• We had sleepovers…
• We had visits from Santa and The Vienna Volunteer Firefighter Department…
• We decorated cookies…gingerbread Christmas Cookies and shortbread Hannukah cookies….
• We read books, watched movies, and cuddled….
• We celebrated my mom’s birthday at Bear Branch Tavern on a themed character night and continued the celebration at Papa and Grandma’s house with dessert…
• We cousined and had a fabulous 11 days together….

We visited the doctor, recovered from sicknesses, got sick again, took medicine….

• Harper – had the flu right before Thanksgiving so was overall recovered in December
• Avery – had several doctor visits after originally having a cold in early November and her residual cough, sore throat, and congestion coming and going throughout December
• Emerson – felt ick some days but nothing that warranted a doc visit
• Justin – had cold symptoms and a pulled muscle in his back Christmas Eve
• Me – cold symptoms starting mid-December that turned into an ear infection, a lingering cough, sore throat, and fluid in my ears

We celebrated Hanukah eight nights….

• The Rakicisanys and The Goldmans came over to celebrate the first night of Hanukah
• Papa and Grandma came over to celebrate the second night of Hanukah and we indulged in the first night’s leftovers
• We lit the menorah each night, Harper even lit the menorah on the last night, a first in about five years.
• The girls opened presents from Justin and I and my parents, all mostly practical…snow boots, rain boots, regular boots, new comforters, night gowns, bras, and my personal favorite panties!
• Cora and Gracie joined us for one night during Hanukah and they got to experience it…Gracie was even repeating the blessing after Avery!

Christmas…

• We went to VPC Christmas Eve Service in person for the first time in two years…we even ran into friends!  The service was interactive, and Avery and Emerson even went on stage with some positive encouragement from their friend Addy!
• We enjoyed Mama Tigre takeout for the second year in a row.
• Karolin arrived Christmas Eve and celebrated Christmas with us!
• Our newly renovated fireplace nicely featured our stockings and Christmas signs. 
• Our elf Nevis arrived the day after we decorated the tree and hung out in silly spots until Christmas Eve, always keeping his eye on us. 
• Santa was so good to the girls….while their wish lists were shorter than years past, he still knew exactly what to get them!  Avery was thrilled with her polaroid camera, dance attire, and bracelets.  Harper was thrilled with her sewing machine and art supplies.  Emerson was thrilled with her peg board and gold necklace holder. 
• We got Avery and Emerson mostly clothes…Abercrombie Kids is the place of choice…good thing for incredible sales! Harper received mostly art supplies from us…as her drawers are already overflowing with more hand me downs than she will ever wear!
• Oh yeah…and the surprise late in the day shared gift for Avery and Emerson….my old phone that they can use when they go certain places (i.e. dance, skate night, friend’s sleepover, walk in the neighborhood, etc.) as a way for us to get in touch with them.  They have wanted one for SO long.  We expressed 7^th grade was the time…but we decided to go for it early…truly to make our lives easier and have them not worry when Justin and I are a few minutes late picking them up from an activity.  They are very happy about it…though they wish they could use apps other than texting as it relates to Justin and me.
• Breakfast was a hit and lived up to its hype…orange scones, bacon, sausage, fruit, scrambled eggs…the best part was the girls help with the preparation of it!
• Dinner was a grand slam too….and the best part was that Justin pretty much took it over and he knocked it out of the park!   Individual filets with burgundy mushrooms, garlic green beans, and homemade rustic bread (courtesy of Emerson).
• Dessert was just as delicious, and the cake looked professional with Karolin (and Avery) assisting with icing.  An almond chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting for the win!

Friends and More Fun

• The girls cashed in on their Zava Zone Hannukah ticket.
• We had the McMillans over for make your own pizza night and the kids and grown ups all had a great time.

Deep Creek…

• For the 3^rd year in a row, we rented the same house with the Brophys and the Nidays for four nights…three nights in December and one night in January.
• Everyone went snow tubing (except me as fluid in my ears was causing a ton of pressure and I chose to rest at home)….they had a fantastic time and weather once again was close to 60…yet conditions to tube were still excellent as it had been very cold for the week prior.
• Walking on the frozen lake…taking advantage of the sunset and my new camera.
• A few of the kids enjoyed the hot tub.
• Each family made a special meal…our red sausage sauce, homemade rustic bread, roasted red pepper dip, roasted pear and arugula salad, and bacon wrapped dates will definitely be in another rotation. 
• We lounged, celebrated Donald’s birthday and New Year’s.

Cheers to 2023!

VIP in the house…in the White House that is!  Seriously, I felt so important parking in the restricted access parking and then entering The White House…me and the hundreds of other people that were there for the evening!  I actually can only imagine the high that truly famous and important people get when attending certain events!

Anyway, our friends Bob and Cindy were able to get two extra tickets and invited us to come with them.  After passing the background check and being body checked upon arrival, we entered the East Wing!  Along the way, we walked by The National Christmas Tree, which I had actually never seen in person!

It really was spectacular, and I took it all in knowing that this was probably a once in a lifetime experience. 

We saw more rooms than I was expecting to see:

Portraits:

China and Holiday card selections from the different presidency’s:

And my VIP status had me grinning ear to ear.

One-on-one dates with the girls hadn’t happened in some time so we made it a priority these past few weeks. Each of the girls did something completely different than we have ever done in the past…each idea was fabulous and I have a feeling that their will be some idea stealing for the next one-on-one dates!

Harper and Justin went to MusePaint Bar and painted a beautiful mountain scape.  Harper was over the moon the entire evening constantly thanking Justin and me (for the idea:)!  Her appreciation and gratefulness of the night makes my heart explode. 

Emerson and I attended a theatrical performance at Madison High School of Much Ado About Nothing, a play by Shakespeare.  While the play itself wasn’t our favorite story line, the acting was fantastic and we had a great time just her and I enjoying the performance on a warm rainy night.  We explored the nearby halls for a few minutes during intermission and it brought back memories of when I attended Madison just a few years back.  It is crazy to think that in less than three years Avery and Emerson will be at Madison and I might just be in that theatre seat watching Emerson perform!

(Mom forgot to take any pictures!)

Avery and I went to ZavaZone, a trampoline and indoor adventure park.  To her disbelief, I was just as excited about going as she was.  We challenged ourselves to obstacles and put our core and upper body strength to the test. I am ecstatic to report that both of us are strong and in shape!  We were both so sore the next day using muscles that we don’t ordinarily use.  Working up an appetite, we finished our night at Pot Belly with some sandwiches and a shared cookie.

Prepping in our new kitchen

Hosting in our new space

Being grateful!

The ageless Maddy’s!  That might have been said when a couple of Justin’s college friends saw our Halloween costume party picture. I must say, I don’t disagree!

The party invitation said to dress up as our Netflix, Hulu, etc. TV characters.  Being that we have only watched a few series and we both automatically assumed we would do a couple’scostume, we fairly quickly agreed to be Sarah and Johnny B. from Outer Banks…yes, teenagers!

I had to order a tube top and white jeans as I had neither; once I committed to the costume, Justin ordered his.  

Seriously it felt good to know that we could pull off dressing as high schoolers. 

Actual Halloween night fell on a Monday, and a rainy Monday. While the kids didn’t have school Monday, they did have school Tuesday and with the on and off rain, pizza, trick or treating, and the firepit started at 5:30 and was over by 7:30.  A quick Halloween for our standards.

The older girls had fun and trick or treated on Hillington by themselves…well at least without Justin and I, Siobhan and Neil followed them closely to their dislike.  I ended up driving them to some houses on Limb Tree and Cedar Pond because it was so dark, raining, and I didn’t want any of us to be eaten by the bear! I just waited in the car as I chauffeured them around.

Harper didn’t trick or treat in our neighborhood this year.  She felt strongly about trick or treating with Liza so we let her and I’m glad…her and Liza also ran into two other of their friends. While she loves this neighborhood and would have had a fun time staying here, she had her heart set on being with her school friends.

There was a lot of candy eating, some candy snatching, and guest appearances at bed time.

The annual tradition of picking that perfect family pumpkin!  We went big this year, probably getting the biggest pumpkin we have ever purchased!  

We skipped the slides and the long lines of a fall festival and opted for a local pumpkin patch that seriously has the most unique and amazing pumpkins I have ever seen.  

We took our time exploring the plethora of heirloom pumpkins; there was no rushing, and fun was had by all as we wheeled our wagon around the patch in search of our family of pumpkins.

A view from 550 feet, a 70 second elevator ride, a cloudless sky, a first experience for all of us.

The view was amazing and even better than I expected.  Seeing the city from that high up from all angles really gave me a better appreciation of the city and all that went into the planning and structure of it hundreds of years ago. While there were some nerves from Avery and Harper about the height, all of us loved it.

Waiting for bladders to empty!

Waiting for our 11:00 ticket entrance time.

Waiting for time at the time at the Smithsonian American Art Museum to be over.

Waiting for yummy pizza and a salad and Pi Pizzeria.

The Washington Monument is not far from home and as such I never made visiting the inside a priority so when it dawned on me that it had reopened after being closed for some time, I decided not to take living so close to it for granted and booked us tickets!

72 hours.  

3 hikes, 15 miles, 3 wineries, 1 brewery, 3 dinners, 1 breakfast, 1 visit with family, 1 visit with friends, 2 movie, and 2 naps.

ALL in 72 relaxed hours.

All to celebrate 14 years since the best wedding ever.

Hikes:

• CrabTree Falls

Amazing hike.  Took 2 hours 20 minutes including the 1-mile scenic tour we took after we reached the peak. It’s the largest waterfall west of the Mississippi.  It’s actually quite dangerous with over 30 hikers having plummeted to their deaths in more recent years when slipping on the rocks. It is pretty much a straight uphill path and then straight downhill on the way back.

• Rivianna Trail – This is a trail right in downtown Charlottesville.  A great nearby trail for the morning before we checked out of our Airbnb.
• Ragged Mountain Area Trail – We did the entire 6.7-mile loop.  Up and downhill the entire hike.  It was close to home, a great workout, and great choice in hikes for Saturday afternoon.  Turns out we had done a portion of that trail the last time we were visiting with the girls.  We just didn’t realize it until we were at the end of the trail. 

Wineries

• Early Mountain – Simply breathtaking views, location, and indoor space.  Wines were yummy and charcuterie board delicious. Definitely want to visit this winery again.

• Barboursville – Was on the path home and since we had both heard of it and it was rated well, we decided to check it out.  Neither of us could figure out why the hype…scenery was lackluster as was the building and the wine. 
• Pippen Hill Winery – A beautiful location.  We went on Saturday and met Kaya and Addy.  While we weren’t hungry, lines were long, so we ordered everything outside.  Kaya had not eaten lunch, so I ordered an overpriced charcuterie board.  For $37, they gave me two paper plates, a block of crumbly cheese, prosciutto, salami, a drop of honey to be put together by yours truly.  Seriously.  The setting is indeed gorgeous, but the wine is expensive and I think they have lowered their quality and service at the expense of numbers and packing the place.

Breweries

• We visited Devil’s Backbone.  It was on the way home from our CrabTree Falls hike – we ran in when the sky opened up.  To avoid driving in the thunderstorm, we stopped here.  The outdoor space looked cool, but we weren’t interested in being outside during the storm.  The inside felt like it should be in Jackson Hole.  Justin ordered a beer, me a flight.  I didn’t like any of the beers. Not a place I wish to return. 

Dinners

• Oak Heart Social – Yum!  Cool vibe!  Lots of couples and couples and friend groups meeting up.  They suggest sharing so we split the shaved salad, beets, and seared rockfish.  All delicious!  We were debating ordering a fourth thing…the sausage and mushroom pizza sounded so good, but we thought it would be too much food….we thought wrong as Justin ate six Wegman’s meatballs when we got home. 
• Brasserie Saison – We had dinner reservations with Sam and Zabby.  While the ambience was cozy and nice and the food was good, the service was a bit awkward.  For example, they forgot to make Justin’s dish and the way they handled it was weird.  We started with bread and butter and a Brussel salad…both delicious.  The ladies had the trout and the men, the steak frites.  Dessert, we shared some chocolate mouse and crème Brule, both very good.  Food was good, but not to die for and service just weird.

• Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar – Yum!  We went on a Sunday.  Place was a little darker than my liking, but food was excellent. Crowd was mostly multigenerational per table.  Then there was me and Justin and a few others. We started with the shaved zucchini salad and the Lebanese Muhammara, both scrumptious.  Justin ordered the lamb shank bourgignon and myself the peasant beef and pork Bolognese, both fantastic. I rarely order pasta, but it felt like the right move and it totally delivered.

Breakfast

• Saturday and Sunday morning we enjoyed yogurt at our AirBnB, our standard Greek yogurt and berries breakfast.  We went for breakfast after our hike Monday morning. I had a few places in mind, but hadn’t made a final decision and since in a time crunch we ended up at Blue Moon Diner, where we had coffee and omelets.  Omelets were fresh, a decently priced choice.  Though if I had to do a breakfast spot again, I would try Oakheart Social. 

Family

• We enjoyed a nice visit with Kaya and Addy Saturday afternoon.  They met us at Pippen Hill Winery.

Friends

• We enjoyed a great evening with Sam and Zabby who we hadn’t seen since spring 2019.  It was really fantastic meeting up with them.  This height cracks me up.

Movies:

• We watched two NetFlix movies…I actually sat still and we cuddled on our small couch and enjoyed watching not one, but two movies, with no electronics in hand!

Naps:

• Need I say more, not sure how, but even doing all these things, we managed to take two one-hour naps while we were away. 

14 years married, 22 years together.  Honestly seems like college and just getting together was yesterday.  It hardly seems like we have been together that long.  You are my best friend, my person, and I love our life and doing life with you.